


The Last Dream

by daylighthour



Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 09:17:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14829554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daylighthour/pseuds/daylighthour
Summary: Hector is sick of being separated from the two things that matter most in his life.Exactly the same as my previous story for this movie, only in English (and hopefully slightly better, since I've actually spoken the language all my life).





	The Last Dream

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [El Último Sueño](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14824577) by [daylighthour](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daylighthour/pseuds/daylighthour). 



> The lyrics for "Remember Me" are not taken from the English language version but rather the Spanish version of the movie and translated by yours truly, since I felt those lyrics worked better with the story. All mistakes are mine, and I apologize for them in advance.

The moon was already glowing brightly in the dark, velvet sky, but Hector still hadn’t slept. Every time sleep was about to take him, his eyes burned with memories of his life in Santa Cecilia. They were so real he swore he could’ve touched them. When the bed groaned under his weight, he imagined Coco to be in his room, sneaking in as she did whenever she had nightmares. When the wind brushed against his face through the open window, he imagined that Imelda was kissing him.   
Hector couldn’t stand this tauntings any more.

Every day that rolled by without his seeing the two most beautiful women in the world was torture. Every morning that he awoke with no one beside him to fill the empty space in his strange bed reminded him that he was a failure. Hector had said this to Ernesto, but de la Cruz had just laughed.

  
“A failure, you say?” Ernesto had said with a broad grin. “And how can you be a failure with all that money in your pocket, with all those people who gather to see you?” At this he tried to put his arm around Hector, but Hector shrugged it off.

  
“They come to see you, Ernesto. And anyway, I wasn’t talking about those things.”

  
“What more do you want? Eh, Hector? You’re living your moment, my friend. That’s the most important thing, isn’t it?”

  
Ernesto hadn’t understood, and Hector didn’t want to discuss it with him any more. A man could be a failure even though he had all the money in the world. Money wasn’t the most valuable thing in life; family was. Hector understood that now. Without his wife and his daughter, music wasn’t music. It was just noise.

  
A bird sang softly just outside his window, and Hector thought about the last night that he had ever spent with Coco. They’d said goodbye to each other with a song, a special song that Hector had sung for her as a lullaby.

  
_Remember me, today I have to leave._

  
The words pierced his heart like a sword.

  
_Remember me, and please don’t cry._

  
And now, it was he who was crying. His pillow was already stained dark with tears.

  
_I’ll carry you in my heart, and you’ll hold me close._

  
Did Coco even remember him? It had already been so long since their goodbye, and she was so young…

  
_If only I should sing to you, dreaming of my return._

  
Enough. Hector rose from his bed and started to throw his clothing into his suitcase. Enough dreaming of returning; he would return for real, and he would return soon. His daughter was growing up without a father, and Imelda without a husband…

  
“I’m coming home,” he said to the vacant air about him. He would say the same sentence to Ernesto in the morning. As soon as he’d finished packing his suitcase, he collapsed in bed once more. Suddenly he was exhausted, but that didn’t matter. This would be his last night sleeping in a strange bed.

  
_Tomorrow_ , he thought. _Tomorrow I’m going to see my family._ And for the first time in many months, sleep came easily to him.


End file.
